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Six!
❰ adalia bursts into six's tent, no consideration for whether she may have someone over or be doing something or anything because she's too excited to think about such things. ❱
Six, I need to tell you about something and it's probably going to be awkward but I have to do it, please!
❰ adalia bursts into six's tent, no consideration for whether she may have someone over or be doing something or anything because she's too excited to think about such things. ❱
Six, I need to tell you about something and it's probably going to be awkward but I have to do it, please!
[ Having retired to her tent - mostly to avoid the drinking, brawling and nausea the outside gives her - Six doesn't expect anyone to come and see her. When Adalia barges into her tent she grabs her dagger without thinking, aiming for her target's throat, before --
Adalia. Her sister. She tenses, for a moment, before she puts the weapon down. ]
You should be more careful, Adalia. [ But she shifts, making space all the same, offering a small smile. ] ... What happened?
Adalia. Her sister. She tenses, for a moment, before she puts the weapon down. ]
You should be more careful, Adalia. [ But she shifts, making space all the same, offering a small smile. ] ... What happened?
❰ whatever, her life has been threatened for lesser reasons, adalia's not worried. she waves her hand in between them, like she can push away six's words and her dagger both, and drops down next to six in an ecstatic heap, taking six's hands in hers and grinning. ❱
I told you it was going to be awkward, but! I slept with a man for the first time and it was very good.
I told you it was going to be awkward, but! I slept with a man for the first time and it was very good.
[ This is not the kind of thing that Six was expecting and her eyes widen for a moment, something heavy in her stomach. For a moment she doesn't know what to do or say, her mouth dropping open into a small 'o' before she suddenly remembers that she has to breathe. ]
You -- that -- Ah... That's... Good?
You -- that -- Ah... That's... Good?
Edited 2018-05-31 00:42 (UTC)
❰ for a moment adalia is too excited by her own life to really pay attention to six's reactions. sex is one of those things where, having had it, she feels like more of an adult, more worldly, like maybe for some reason people will look at her and just know she's experienced and thus take her more seriously. rationally she's perfectly aware that is not how it works, and yet... ❱
It was good! And I'm never going to have to see him again, because he's a lord from Orlais, so if I was terrible or if I embarrassed myself, I'll never have to know! It's perfect!
❰ despite her excitement and her teenaged self-involvement, though, adalia is not heartless, and she can focus on someone else long enough to read their reaction. she was expecting six to be uncomfortable, but not this much — adalia's smile begins to slip, her eyes losing their pleased glitter and turning concerned instead. ❱
Is this too much? I know it's awkward, I was just so excited, I'm sorry.
It was good! And I'm never going to have to see him again, because he's a lord from Orlais, so if I was terrible or if I embarrassed myself, I'll never have to know! It's perfect!
❰ despite her excitement and her teenaged self-involvement, though, adalia is not heartless, and she can focus on someone else long enough to read their reaction. she was expecting six to be uncomfortable, but not this much — adalia's smile begins to slip, her eyes losing their pleased glitter and turning concerned instead. ❱
Is this too much? I know it's awkward, I was just so excited, I'm sorry.
[ Six has no idea how to react to it, genuinely speaking. It's something that seems so out of place from her own life and her own experiences - the only intimacy she'd ever had was with Adrian and the most they'd done was brush fingertips and almost hold hands. Promises to do things after her training was done... That had all been cut short. It still hurts to think about with a strange, awkward sting in her eye. ]
It sounds like you made a good choice?
[ Shaking her head, Six shifts, reaching for Adalia's hand and holding it gently. Her sister - sister! Such a strange thing - has come to her with something important that she wanted to share. It seems cruel to shake her off or dismiss it. ]
No, please. Be excited. It is... It's something that I am... Not sure of.
It sounds like you made a good choice?
[ Shaking her head, Six shifts, reaching for Adalia's hand and holding it gently. Her sister - sister! Such a strange thing - has come to her with something important that she wanted to share. It seems cruel to shake her off or dismiss it. ]
No, please. Be excited. It is... It's something that I am... Not sure of.
❰ well, now the excitement has taken a back seat to curiosity — six seems so much older, surely she has experience of her own in this area? if not with sex itself, then at least with men in general?
oh, or — ❱
Not sure of — men? Are you uninterested in them?
❰ if six is interested in women then that's just as well, they'd still be able to talk about such things. adalia has no practical experience with women, but she's not opposed to getting some, one day! ❱
oh, or — ❱
Not sure of — men? Are you uninterested in them?
❰ if six is interested in women then that's just as well, they'd still be able to talk about such things. adalia has no practical experience with women, but she's not opposed to getting some, one day! ❱
[ The question seems to make her pause, genuinely, for a moment, considering, before she breathes out and shakes her head, staring down at her hands. ]
No. I am... Interested. There just hasn't really been anyone...
[ Her hands clench, tight. ]
It is not something I've had a chance to be interested in.
No. I am... Interested. There just hasn't really been anyone...
[ Her hands clench, tight. ]
It is not something I've had a chance to be interested in.
❰ adalia waits patiently for six to articulate her thoughts, watching her with her head tilted slightly to the side and her hands loosely holding six's. there's a slight furrow in her brow as six finishes — she hasn't had a chance? but she was a mercenary, surely such things would come up often? ❱
You've never met a man you wanted to be with? Not even in your mercenary group?
❰ adalia wasn't quite as interested in such things before gwenaëlle brought them front and center for her, but she's had crushes before, at least. there's no judgment to her tone, even for how confused she seems, just genuine interest. ❱
You've never met a man you wanted to be with? Not even in your mercenary group?
❰ adalia wasn't quite as interested in such things before gwenaëlle brought them front and center for her, but she's had crushes before, at least. there's no judgment to her tone, even for how confused she seems, just genuine interest. ❱
[ The question doesn't catch her off guard, really, and Six takes a moment for herself, considering. When she had been a mercenary she hadn't really engaged with anything the others had done, particularly - it hadn't interested her, to go off and play around with someone who she would never see again. It felt so... Meaningless. Pointless.
... A man she wanted to be with. ]
... Not when I was a mercenary.
[ Her eyes flick to her pack, to the side, and she breathes out. ]
But there was a man, once. His name was Adrian.
... A man she wanted to be with. ]
... Not when I was a mercenary.
[ Her eyes flick to her pack, to the side, and she breathes out. ]
But there was a man, once. His name was Adrian.
❰ adalia is not incapable of reading a room. she knows this is a more serious topic, now, than hers had been, and despite how curious she is, she manages to hold herself back from asking the million questions she really wants to ask — who was he, why is it a "was" at all, did he return your interest, how far did things go with him —
instead she just smiles a little, and squeezes six's hand. ❱
I'd love to hear about him, if you'd like to tell me.
instead she just smiles a little, and squeezes six's hand. ❱
I'd love to hear about him, if you'd like to tell me.
[ There's a long moment where Six doesn't say anything, the silence drawn out and a little awkward. There's an edge of something that tastes like panic on her tongue, but she swallows it back and turns instead for the bundled up greatsword hilt, drawing it close and stroking her fingers over the fabric. ]
He was the man who thought that I would make a good Paladin. He began to train me and we spent almost two years together. I think I loved him... And he loved me.
[ She pushes the bundle towards Adalia. ]
He died.
He was the man who thought that I would make a good Paladin. He began to train me and we spent almost two years together. I think I loved him... And he loved me.
[ She pushes the bundle towards Adalia. ]
He died.
❰ protracted silence is not adalia's favourite thing in the world, and she shifts uncomfortably as she waits for six to decide what she wants to say, tapping her foot lightly against the ground, waiting —
the tapping stops when six pushes the bundle in her hands towards adalia. she looks from the broken sword to six, and her heart breaks for her sister. ❱
I'm so sorry, ❰ she says, genuine, voice soft. ❱ I don't want to pry. If you don't want to explain anything more, you don't have to.
the tapping stops when six pushes the bundle in her hands towards adalia. she looks from the broken sword to six, and her heart breaks for her sister. ❱
I'm so sorry, ❰ she says, genuine, voice soft. ❱ I don't want to pry. If you don't want to explain anything more, you don't have to.
[ Six shakes her head, slow and sure as she gazes at the broken hilt. Who has she had to talk about these things with? Herself and Sarenrae, and a God can only listen to so many prayers. Reaching out, her fingers brush over the blade and she closes her eyes, summoning her own courage. ]
I am going to take this blade and find his family. Then I can bury it where his body could not go. That is my duty, now.
[ She had accepted her Oath, had devoted herself to Sarenrae, but her first quest, her first true mission as a Paladin proper was to put Adrian to rest. When she closes her eyes all she can picture is the broken body in front of her, her own fingers clawing in the mud and dirt and blood, her throat hoarse with the screams and tears that she couldn't keep back. ]
We... We agreed that we would wait to do anything until my training was complete. That was not... It was not meant to be.
I am going to take this blade and find his family. Then I can bury it where his body could not go. That is my duty, now.
[ She had accepted her Oath, had devoted herself to Sarenrae, but her first quest, her first true mission as a Paladin proper was to put Adrian to rest. When she closes her eyes all she can picture is the broken body in front of her, her own fingers clawing in the mud and dirt and blood, her throat hoarse with the screams and tears that she couldn't keep back. ]
We... We agreed that we would wait to do anything until my training was complete. That was not... It was not meant to be.
❰ and here adalia was thinking this story couldn't get more sad. she's avoided thinking about the things the lyrium flu told them about what rifters are, unwilling to deal with the truth of their state here, but it's impossible to ignore it, with six talking about her duty:
they are spirits, or something like them. they aren't going home, even if they disappear from thedas, as so many rifters have. they will disappear back into the fade, and whoever they were in toril, whether that was even real — those lives will be lived as though they had never appeared in thedas at all. six, this six, will never complete her duty.
is it kinder to tell her that, or to let her believe that she could carry out her duty one day? the memory of six's sobbing as she hacks uselessly at a training dummy tells adalia all she needs to know about that question. she's lost enough. adalia won't take her duty from her too. she takes six's hands again, locking eyes with her, sincerity practically bleeding from her pores. ❱
When we get back to Toril, I hope we find each other. I hope I can help you fulfill that duty.
they are spirits, or something like them. they aren't going home, even if they disappear from thedas, as so many rifters have. they will disappear back into the fade, and whoever they were in toril, whether that was even real — those lives will be lived as though they had never appeared in thedas at all. six, this six, will never complete her duty.
is it kinder to tell her that, or to let her believe that she could carry out her duty one day? the memory of six's sobbing as she hacks uselessly at a training dummy tells adalia all she needs to know about that question. she's lost enough. adalia won't take her duty from her too. she takes six's hands again, locking eyes with her, sincerity practically bleeding from her pores. ❱
When we get back to Toril, I hope we find each other. I hope I can help you fulfill that duty.
[ Six's hands reach out and press over the hilt of the blade, brushing over the curve of the weapon and the heft of it. It had been a large thing, once, as big as her own but with more weight to it because Adrian had been strong enough for it. When she had been a mercenary she had picked her own greatsword - it had felt better in her hands than a shortsword or a longsword - but she had never handled hers with the effortless grace that Adrian had. He had been terrifying with it and Six had only ever hoped to come close to matching him.
It's hard, even now, for her to look down at the broken, shattered piece of her past and settle with it beside her. She's been carrying it for months now; through her own healing, with a scar on her back settling with agony, through her Oath to Sarenrae, through the beginning of travelling alone. That hadn't been too much for her - isolation was easy and familiar - but the loss of Adrian's warmth had burned through her like a brand. She feels the loss of him like the loss of a limb, a year and a half of tenderness and laughter ripped from her.
Six takes the hilt back, her fingers brushing over the pommel, her eyes damp, before she breathes out. It's hard, so hard, but she carries him with her. His body may be gone but she has stolen his spirit, his heart, and she keeps that with a possessiveness that could rival the most envious of kings. ]
If that's what you would like. [ She makes no promises. Promises hurt, now. ] He deserves to be at peace. I could not protect him, so he deserves to be at peace.
It's hard, even now, for her to look down at the broken, shattered piece of her past and settle with it beside her. She's been carrying it for months now; through her own healing, with a scar on her back settling with agony, through her Oath to Sarenrae, through the beginning of travelling alone. That hadn't been too much for her - isolation was easy and familiar - but the loss of Adrian's warmth had burned through her like a brand. She feels the loss of him like the loss of a limb, a year and a half of tenderness and laughter ripped from her.
Six takes the hilt back, her fingers brushing over the pommel, her eyes damp, before she breathes out. It's hard, so hard, but she carries him with her. His body may be gone but she has stolen his spirit, his heart, and she keeps that with a possessiveness that could rival the most envious of kings. ]
If that's what you would like. [ She makes no promises. Promises hurt, now. ] He deserves to be at peace. I could not protect him, so he deserves to be at peace.
[ That is... Ominous, and Six is immediately unsure and nervous. ]
Safe how? Is she unharmed?
Safe how? Is she unharmed?
[ It doesn't make Six feel better, and her jaw is tense. ]
Will you be seeing her?
Will you be seeing her?
[ The urge to apply herself to go is there, but that might be too much for Adalia. Perhaps. She's not sure. ]
I will be at the port when she returns.
I will be at the port when she returns.
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